Quiet
by Yami Dragoness of Dark
Summary: It's all she had ever known, the silence that is. And she hated it, that and the sad look her deafness caused in her mother's eyes. Perhaps Spanner and Irie can help? Family sidefic, Xixi's story! Now with more humor XD


Yami: Well...to those of you who knew, I had a biopsy last week for two suspicious moles upon my person...guess triplets aren't always the same -_- N....got the results today, they are precancerous, but unactivated with only a 15-20% chance of waking up. I got one removed today, and the other will be removed tomorrow, so FEAR NOT FOR MY HEALTH!...I just felt the need to inform you all that I SHALL BE AROUND TO ANNOY YOU FURTHER! XD lol okay, story time.

Xixi...Xima...oh child, you were difficult to write. Xixi, or Xima as is her proper name, is the third child born to Xanxus and Squalo. Despite hardly being shown, she managed to gather quiet a fanbase XD no complaints though, no complaints. Her story I made more humorous because Xiana and the twins made people cry and Xiale's might too. Besides, Xixi isn't known for being emotional too often...except making in this story. Her deafness is something that stricks a cord in her, always.

She starts out 14 and ends 15.

Summary: It's all she had ever known, the silence that is. And she hated it. The sad look in her mother's eyes. Perhaps Spanner and Irie can help?

Rating: M, Squalo has a bad mouth lol

Genre: Family, hurt/comfort with humor too

Disclaimer: I don't own Reborn characters, but I think you can guess who are mine. On a side note...go to my profile, and you'll find a link to Shara-chan's deviantart. She's got one of Abel and his sister when they are older :)

Thanks: To DSB-chan, my beta. -hugs- sorry for confusing you so much ha-ha.

* * *

It's all she had ever known. Since her time in the womb, she knew not sound, but vibrations that echoed into her bones. The lullabies her mother sang, the excited talk of Family members telling her how excited they were that she would soon be born, her mother's heartbeat, she never heard any of it. The vibrations barely reached her, so light they were that she didn't notice them. She felt the heartbeat though, which is why even now, when she can't sleep, she'd go to her parents' room, and rest with her head resting on the left side of her mother's chest so that the strong heartbeat echoed within her cranium.

She remembered much more of her infanthood than most would because of how mentally capable she was. She was a prodigy, taught by Verde, and apprenticed to Spanner. Her most vivid earliest memory wasn't of her mother holding her. The first memory, from what she could figure was when she was one and a half, of her sister carrying her around the nursery while she cried with a fever. She asked her sister about it, curious because the next memory _was_ of her mother, and most following that memory was of their mother teaching her to read lips.

"Mamma had a lot of grief when you were born," Xiana told her in her blunt fashion as she looked over paperwork, "he and you were stuck in the hospital for almost six months and then for the next year he was afraid to come near you because he kept thinking it was his fault you were deaf."

She went to mamma to ask directly. Her mother just hugged her tight and didn't sign a word though she was sure that he had cried a little, because her shoulder was damp when mamma let go. Mamma did feel guilty for her deafness, even though it wasn't mamma's fault.

"What's wrong?" Spanner asked as he, Irie, and Xixi worked on their latest project, a hover board.

Irie looked around, confused while Xix blushed and looked away. Verde had been her teacher when she was young, but it was Spanner who had taken over most of her education when she showed interest mechanics. He understood her more than her own parents did. As such, he knew when something was upsetting her. "Xixi, are you okay?" Irie, the ever present assistant teacher, inquired.

Xixi shifted uncomfortably but didn't respond.

"Is it Tsumitsu?" prodded Spanner. He put down his tools and turned to his apprentice, "You two have a fight?"

She shook her head. She and Tsumitsu were doing fine. He had completely mastered sign language at last, and they had spent the past two days signing to each other endlessly. The eleventh Vongola was very proud of himself, and found it was a lot easier to say some things when they weren't said aloud. Like, "I love you."

There was no way she'd have fought with him.

"The triplets?"

She always fought with Hiko. He, and sometimes his brothers wanted Tsumitsu's attention, being best friends with the boy, and since Xixi was his fiancé, there was always some trouble between the four of them, less with Aka and Mizuko, more with Hiko.

Still, they hadn't argued in over a week.

She shook her head.

"Then please explain why you just crossed the coolant line with the energon line?"

Xixi jumped and stared down at their latest experiment. She blushed, and quickly went about fixing her mistake, mouthing words but not speaking out loud. Once the lines were in their proper place, she sat back, and let her arm fall limp, the ratchet striking the ground. It let out a loud clang. She felt the vibrations run up her arm, and ring within her chest cavity. She struck the floor again, harder this time. Spanner winched. When she attempted to hit the floor again, Irie grabbed her wrist, "Stop that, you'll make us go deaf."

Bad choice of words.

She glared at him, fury dancing in her eyes. Spanner reached out and grabbed her before she could run away, a thing she commonly did when upset. "Explain."

Xixi dropped into a sitting position, glaring at the opposite wall. Slowly, carefully, she said, "I am deaf." The words were thick, almost like she spoke with a slight head cold, "and it upsets Mamma."

Spanner released her, and sat back on his hunches, considering the situation. Irie, looking nervous about the current topic, began to fiddle with their project. Finally, the blonde sighed and said, "There was a time when it did upset him a lot. He's dealt with it."

"He cried…when I asked him…" She looked away, ashamed, "Why can't I hear?"

"A malformation in your ear during development," Irie, the more medical knowledgeable one, replied at once, "Due to a genetic mutation, certain parts of your ear didn't form right."

"I think she meant in a philosophical sense," Spanner remarked when Xixi's sweat-dropped.

"Oh…sorry," When Xixi sighed, Irie patted her on the shoulder, "philosophically, it's no one's fault…it's just the way life is. Unfair."

Her shoulders sagged more. Mumbling under her breath, Xixi got up and left.

Spanner looked over at his lover, before looking back at their experiment, which lie on a metal slab on the floor. "We're going to have to put this on hold for a bit."

Irie just smiled and rolled up his sleeves.

.

.

.

Xixi smiled into the crib, looking down at her newborn nephew. The little black haired infant was wiggling around within the crib, face scrunched up, mouth opening and closing. She couldn't feel any vibrations, so she hoped he wasn't actually crying. Xiana would be mad if he was and she wasn't doing anything. Reaching in, she poked his cheek. Blue eyes popped open and stared at her, affronted.

The door opened as she was laughing at his expression. It was the new mother herself, looking tired. She hurried over to the crib and gently picked up the infant, who at once looked much calmer. "What were you doing Xixi?" she asked, turning to face her sister.

Xixi pointed at her eye than pointed at the infant in her sister's arms.

"Oh…listen, Spanner and Irie have something they want to talk to you about, I'm supposed to bring you to them."

This was odd. She knew the way to the labs. Why was Xiana bringing her there? Shrugging, she followed her sister out of the new nursery. Abel began blowing spit bubbles. A tender smile formed on the once cold warrior's face as she looked down at her son. Xixi glanced at the two before speeding up. Just as she was about to take the left that led to the stairs to the first floor Xiana grabbed her shirt. "No. To my office." Xixi blinked, but followed.

Squalo, Lussuria, Irie, Spanner, the twins, Xiale, and Tsumitsu stood in the office. She pressed her middles fingers to her chest then pulled them upward and out. What's up?

Spanner held up a small device. It looked almost like the earpiece of a headset, thin and black, though instead of a little speaker, there was an odd blob thing and a long, thin thing. "This is something Irie and I made," Spanner said while Irie signed. "it's a replacement for your damaged parts. It acts as an ear, and attaches directly to the auditory nerve."

She gaped at them. Squalo nodded at her. Spanner motioned her over. She went. He lifted her up and placed her on the desk. Irie pointed at the little device in Spanner's hand, moved his hands up and down before touching and pulling apart his index fingers a few times. This might hurt.

Her scooter, a mini computer comprised of the monitor/screen that went in front of one of her eyes, and the actual computer that was normally put over one of her ears like a headphone was removed. The thing was put in. It felt like something was digging into the side of her head. Not painful, but definitely uncomfortable. She fidgeted, trying not to move her head. Everyone watched with baited breath. Closing her eyes, Xixi began to mouth prays to all the angels she knew, begging them to let this work. She wanted to hear. She wanted to sadness in her mother's eyes to go away.

The weirdest sensation filled her head as Spanner moved back. It felt like the air that moved over her skin was moving in her right ear. She shifted and looked around. "Xixi?" The sound –_sound_!- came from her left. She jerked her head around. It was deep, kind of scratchy, like it was normally a lot louder. Her mother smiled hesitatingly at her, "Xixi?"

"Mamma?" She tilted her head to the left, giving her right better access to hear –_hear_!- She had just heard –_heard_!- her own voice! It was so high and soft! Tears spilt from her eyes. She let out a sob and reached up, rubbing at her eyes.

"Xixi!? What's wrong? Does it hurt? Are you okay?" Tsumitsu asked, frantic.

Her head shook from side to side while the rest of her just trembled. "I…I can h-hear!" A hiccup escaped her tight throat. Arms wrapped around her and the familiar stead vibrations that had lulled her to sleep for so many years beat in her ear, audible to her at last.

She smiled and hugged her mother back, ear pressed to his chest, listening to the steady heartbeat.

"Get the phone, quick," Xiana exclaimed, making the newly hearing girl jump. The Varia leader snatched the phone from the twins and quickly dialed before handing it to her sister. She listened to the phone ringing, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

There was a click than a gruff voice demanded, "What the fuck do you want? This better be important, Xiana, I was in the middle of a meeting with…"

"Papà?"

The voice on the other end fell silent. There were voices in the background talking, though she didn't know about what, they spoke so softly. "Who…"

"Papà?"

"…Xixi?"

She grinned, fresh tears falling, "Ciao papà, when are you coming home?"

"I…I…I'm…I'm coming home…tomorrow…how…"

"Spanner and Irie made me a hearing aid," she explained. "I can hear papà! I can hear!"

On the other end of the line, Xanxus smiled, startling the people in the meeting room, all big names in the American mob. "That's good to hear, Xixi. That's very good to hear." Her laugh never sounded as happy as it did then.

.

.

.

"Xixi!" Squalo yelled, furious. He had been calling for his youngest daughter for fifteen minutes and she _still_ hadn't come! Annoyed, he stormed to her room. He found her inside, happily playing video games with Tsumitsu, who had his earphones in. Squalo growled as he watched the two, completely ignoring him. "_Xima!"_

Tsumitsu heard that. He jumped and looked around, mouthed, "oh fuck," before tapping his fiancé on the shoulder. She glanced at the door, smiled at her mother and nodded before returning her attention to the video game.

"Why the fuck didn't you come with I called _fifteen minutes ago!"_ Tsumitsu gulped, Xixi didn't say anything. "Xixi!"

Tsumitsu got the genius's attention, and made several quick hand motions. A look of comprehension dawned on her face. She turned to face her mother and did several hand motions herself. Sorry mamma, didn't know you were calling.

"You've got your fucking hearing aid!"

I took it out.

"Why!?"

She grinned, and said clearly, "Lots of noises apparently cause headaches, and I can't have those, now can I?"

Squalo groaned and face palmed while Xixi laughed and Tsumitsu looked vaguely nervous.

* * *

Yami: Ta-da. HUMOR!...some of it :)

Xixi is one of my precious babies who I have big plans for. She, along with Spanner, Irie, and Xiale are the ones who build the cloud guardian of the Varia...but that's another story ;)

Remeber to review, Xixi will love you for it!

Xiale is next. Be warned, his takes place after X/S die. It won't be as tear jerking as the twins and Xiana's but be prepared for a fuck load of drama...and lots of blood X3 MUWAHAHAHA!


End file.
